Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review. Post contains affiliate links; I may earn commission if you make a purchase. Opinions shared are mine.

There’s a reason why it’s so hard for me to DNF a book.  Once I “meet” characters in a story, I’ve got to find out what happens.  Sometimes I put the book aside for a while, but usually there’s an intention to finish reading it at some point.  That’s what I thought would happen with The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent.  It felt like the story was going in one clear direction and was dragging on.  It was tempting to switch to a new one, but I pushed through.  SO GLAD I DID!

The initial introduction to Evie and Sage felt familiar.  I think I read a book with similar circumstances last year, although the exact title eludes me.  The family’s way of life was intriguing, and it was clear that more was going on behind the scenes.  I thought it might be similar to The Village situation.   On the other hand, Nicolette never really gained my affection. Her character felt too cliche while being unapproachable.   While I felt compassion and empathy toward her, I never felt like she’d be a person I’d be friends with.

Somewhere around the middle of the book, skimming seemed preferable to actual reading.  While that’s usually my cue to DNF, I decided to read just a few more chapters.  The “big” twist, while unbelievable and unrealistic, was huge and made me speed through the rest of the book!

The word THRILLER is shown on the cover, but I disagree.  To me, this was crossed barely into the psychological suspense territory, but not much beyond that.